


Reframing the Future

by Wix



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, New Avengers, Not T'Challa Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Sokovia Accords, Team Dynamics, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-27 02:09:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15675888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wix/pseuds/Wix
Summary: The Avengers come under the purview of the Accords Council under T'Challa's watchful gaze when the Renegade Avengers return to the Compound.This spells trouble for Tony who comes to the realization that maybe it's time for one empire to end and for another to take it's place.





	Reframing the Future

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> I'm not even going to pretend that I understand fully what's up in this story. I typed it up today during my down time and I figured I'd post it. I won't lie - there's a lot of T'Challa bashing in this for some reason and I'm not really sure why but there it is. Heads up. If you like him - this story isn't for you.

It’s very quickly becoming the mission from hell.

Tony doesn’t know who sprang the Abomination from his ‘top secret area 51’ prison cell, but when he finds out he’s going to have _words_ with them.

In the suit.

 _Aggressive_ words.

Tony feels the moment that the side of the suit crumples under the force of the Abomination slamming down on him and he twists with a cry as the suit immediately powers up and the unibeam tosses the Abomination off of him. _God Bruce, where are you?_ Tony can’t help but think as he hears the Abomination snarl and prep to launch another attack. He signals the suit to let out several missiles as distraction as he takes back off into the sky.

“FRIDAY? Stats?”

**_‘The suit’s integrity has been severely compromised. It’s currently pressing a millimeter into the top layer or skin. No organs have been pierced at this time.’_ **

“Good to hear. Gel it and I’ll look at it when we get back. I need a backup suit.”

**_‘Already inbound’_ **

“God I hate the Abomination.” Tony mutters to himself before he twists in the air to avoid an attack and he bites back a tiny cry of pain. “And whoever built these fucking robots. Seriously, what the fuck. FRIDAY, do we have stats yet on the beacon?”

 ** _‘Scans place it in the area.’_** FRIDAY replies before focusing on a truck. **_‘It’s coming from there.’_**

“Are there signs of life?”

**_‘No Boss.’_ **

“Got it. Falcon, truck at two o’clock. Can you get it?”

 _“A little busy Stark, if you haven’t noticed.”_ Sam’s voice replies and Tony sighs as he sees the Falcon avoiding and spinning between grabby handed robots trying to bring him down. No help coming from there then.

“Can anyone else get to the truck? It’s got the signal for the robots. We can shut them down if we can shut it off.”

 _“You’re going to have to deal with it yourself.”_ Natasha says, and her voice sounds out of breath.

“Of course I do.” Tony mutters off the com line. “I’m not just dealing with the bastard cousin of the Hulk, no I’ve got ample time to just skedaddle over there and handle this for us too.” Tony rolls his eyes. “FRIDAY? Suit?”

 ** _‘Almost here Boss.’_** FRIDAY answers him and a short countdown puts itself up on the HUD.

 _“Stark, we need you at Hawkeye’s location!”_ Steve’s voice comes over the coms as Tony avoids the giant boulder that the Abomination has just thrown at him and the ever grasping hands of the machines flying around him. He has to give, whoever did this has done something rather impressive with these strange robots. Nothing like the suit – thank whoever for _that_ miracle – but this certainly was an unfortunate lesson in how a subpar product might cause issue if enough of them are thrown at you all at once.

“Where’s Falcon?” Tony asks.

_“Doesn’t matter, get there!”_

“I can’t handle the Abomination, cover Hawkeye and deal with the beacon all at the same time. If someone else is available that’d be nice.”

 _“Damn it Stark, where the fuck are you?”_ Clint snarls and Tony makes a choice.

“Shit, FRI, give everything except the last missile, save it for the truck on your way out.” Tony says as the countdown hits one and Tony feels the moment that the latches on the suit release and he drops into dead air. He can’t fully help how he cries out as the twisted metal from the attack catches his side even worse as he slips free and curves his body to brace for the transfer.

 ** _‘I’ve got you Boss.’_** FRIDAY says when the new suit flies to him and closes up around him. Tony doesn’t even pause as he activates the repulsors and shoots his way over to where Barton is, coming down like a red and gold wrecking ball as the previous suit succeeds in pissing off the Abomination and blowing the truck on its way out.

All of the robots fall down dead.

 _“Abomination’s gone after Natasha!”_ Sam’s voice says as the last robot falls and he shoots back off to the sky to see the aforementioned creature pounding on its chest as it approaches the spy.

“Scarlet an assist would be useful.” Tony says as he drops down in front of Natasha and unleashes what he can of the suit’s fury on the beast that won’t end up with a dead soldier laying in the wreckage when the serum’s rage wears off. Tony figures he’s slightly grateful – _slightly_ being the opportune word there – when the red mist of Wanda’s mental attack finally envelopes the Abomination and it falls down unconscious. “Okay, next time we start with that.” Tony says and he watches as Rogers and the others come storming over. There’s a look of frustrated rage on the blonde’s face and for the life of him Tony can’t figure what this next lecture he’s about to get is going to be about.

He’s pretty sure he’s going to ignore it. But that’s a given.

“What was that Tony?” Rogers snaps and Tony just stares at him.

“What was what Captain? You’re going to need to be specific here.” Tony tells him and he takes in how Rogers clenches his fist.

“You just dropped out of the suit mid battle? We thought you were going to die.” Rogers practically snarls. “We had to watch you fall.”

“It was fine. I had another suit.”

“It was reckless Tony. It distracted us all.” Natasha tells him, her voice soft like she’s sad he doesn’t recognize the issue and Tony takes a few seconds to breathe through his nose and calm any biting comments about where she can shove her fake concern and how he’s pretty fucking sure that none of them were truly distracted if they thought he was preparing to meet his doom.

“The suit was damaged and it’d been compromised.” Tony tells them. “I was going to have to ditch it regardless.”

“You need to tell us before you do these things.” Rogers snaps and Tony sighs. Ah, that wonderful one way communication thing.

“If there’s enough time next time I’ll see what I can do.” Tony tells him.

“That’s not fucking good enough Stark.” Barton pushes his way into the conversation. “Where the fuck were you?”

“Falling out of the sky or had you not heard?” Tony quips at him and Barton snarls as he steps forward and Wilson steps between them quickly.

“Don’t man, it’s not worth it.” Wilson says to him softly and Tony rolls his eyes. Steve looks like he’s going to say something until he sighs and gets a look like a heavy exhaustion has just come over him because of Tony’s unending difficulty and he just shakes his head.

“We’ll discuss it back at the Compound.” Steve says as he watches the authorities approach and start to reclaim the Abomination. “Where are you going?” Steve asks when Tony starts to walk away.

“Someone has to make sure that the tech they’re collecting is actually offline and harmless.” Tony tells him. “Unless you’ve suddenly gone and got a degree in cybernetics, I’m pretty sure that lands that job on my lap.” Steve looks like Tony’s just exhausting him today as he nods and motions for everyone to follow him.

“Avengers, back to the jet.” There are a few glares thrown his way as the others listen to Steve’s order and Tony just turns away and walks up to one of the robots. “FRI, get me some scans of this please?” He asks as he kneels down and picks up a damaged core. “What are we looking at?”

 ** _‘Familiar work Boss.’_** FRIDAY says as she brings up the scan’s deconstruction up on the HUD and Tony frowns. It’s a mix of Hammers Robots – the ones that Vanko upgraded – and a few pieces of Ultron’s redesign of the Iron Legion.

“So someone’s playing mad scientist with robots. That’s…not good. Can we track where they might have come into contact with the Ultron Legion?”

**_‘I’ll see what I can do Boss. It’s unlikely though since Sokovia has not keep adequate records of the cleanup.’_ **

“Shit. Okay, well please do what you can.”

**_‘On it.’_ **

+++

“You can’t keep this up.” May Parker says as she tapes up his wound. “You need better medical care than what you can get in my living room.”

“Are you kidding? You’re perfect.” Tony tells her with a charming grin that she rolls her eyes at with a small smile tugging at her lips.

“Why don’t you use the Compound medical facilities?” She asks him and he goes to say something quippy, but she just levels a look on him. “Honest, why don’t you use them? Then you wouldn’t have to wait around till I was available.”

“…if there’s one thing I’ve learned.” Tony says softly, glancing down at the patch she’s just taped over the wound. “Is that you never show them the damage. Otherwise it’s like cutting your own throat and getting in the water surrounded by sharks. It’s not going to end well.” May gets a complicated look on her face as she tugs down his shirt with a sigh.

“Well, you’re all good. Try not to aggravate it. I’d prefer to not have to put stitches in it if I can.”

“I’d prefer that too. Stitches are never fun.”

“…Tony…can I ask you something?”

“You can always ask.” Tony tells her as he tugs on his jacket.

“If you don’t trust them, why are you still doing it?”

“...because I believe in the ideal that was promised when we created the Avengers.” Tony tells her. “And I’m going to die long before I let them steal that belief from me.” Tony runs a hand through his hair. “I may not trust Rogers and T’Challa and the others, but I believe that we’ve started something that’s going to grow and going to become something greater than the ego of one man covered in an American flag. I have to hold onto that hope. Somedays it’s the only thing that keeps me going.”

“…Peter believes in it too.” May tells him and Tony gives her a smile.

“And that’s why I still do this. So people like Peter can still believe, and maybe one day they’ll find us and spread that belief.”

+++

“There’s a problem.” T’Challa says as he looks at the latest data from their training session. “And it’s a problem that isn’t being corrected.”

“We keep failing the simulations.” Steve offers, always looking for the gold star from the teacher – or maybe he just likes the sound of his own voice. That’s possible too. “We’re not integrating as a team.”

“To a point, that’s correct.” T’Challa replies. “But to a point you’re incorrect as well.”

“What do you mean?” Natasha asks and Tony mentally thinks about the next meeting he has scheduled with the board and Harley’s upcoming science fair.

“You do the worst at the beginning of the simulation.” T’Challa says. “When all of you are still present. The moment that Mr. Stark is taken out of the equation, your problems soothe themselves out.” Clint snorts and there’s some haughty looks thrown in his direction.

“So Stark’s the weak link. Who would have guessed?” Clint says with heavy sarcasm lacing his tone.

“It does appear to be that way.” T’Challa responds to that. “On the surface at least. Although the Council and I have come to completely different reasons as for why this event continues to occur.”

“What do they think is happening?” Natasha asks and T’Challa sighs.

“The obvious answer is that there is no trust between the team and Mr. Stark.” T’Challa says. “It would be easy to place the burden of that blame on him since he would appear to be the outlier… but other data must also be considered.”

“What other data?” Steve asks.

“Mr. Stark does the best in the training simulations when on his own. He beats all of your times and scores when looked at individually.” T’Challa glances at all of them.

“That just points out that he’s not really a team player.” Sam says and Tony sighs, preparing to check out of this meeting again when T’Challa tilts his head.

“I have argued that this is possible, but there are many voices who do not share that same read of the situation. And they are not without due cause for their beliefs.” T’Challa glances at Tony before looking back to the rest of them. “The training sessions determine who slips and allows an attack to get through their defenses and hit a teammate. In all of the simulations, Mr. Stark is the first shot down – but it is not because he allows hits to get past him, but because hits that should have been blocked by his teammates are not contained and he is felled in the game.”

“They’re saying it’s us.” Natasha says and Tony almost wants to gasp and say ‘What? No. That’s not possible, _you_? Perish the thought.’ But he holds it in.

Barely.

“The data is saying that the weak link is not Mr. Stark, but the rest of the team itself.” T’Challa pauses. “This is of course something that cannot be born.”

“We trust Tony.” Steve says, and he sounds so earnest. “But there’s this wall between us that he won’t bring down. How are we supposed to have his back when he won’t let us?”

“Funny.” Tony says, and they all glance at him.

“What’s funny?” Natasha asks and Tony looks up.

“Funny that you think this is somehow my doing or that I’m the one who needs to change. That of course means that in order to have that thought you’re completely ignoring all the evidence laid before you that says that I have your backs, but _you_ don’t have _mine_.”

“We’d have your back if you’d let us.” Steve tells him and Tony sighs. It’s like talking to a brick wall.

“Well, very soon it might become a bigger concern.” T’Challa warns them. “The Council has expressed a displeasure in these numbers and they want the schism fixed. As soon as possible. To do so, I’ve suggested more training sessions to let you all realize when you’re slipping and to help foster better relations.” T’Challa glances at Tony. “We will of course work around your time at Stark Industries.”

“More training sessions. Where I get shot.” Tony says softly. “Sounds like a blast. Truly. Couldn’t think of _anything else_ I’d rather do.” No one pays him any attention if they hear him.

+++

“How on earth does this help?” Tony mutters to himself as he sighs and takes a step forward.

 _“Go two steps to your left.”_ Clint’s voice comes in over his earpiece and Tony’s not even the slightest bit surprised when he hits the barrier and gets shocked. _“I said two steps to your **left**.” _ Clint snaps and Tony lets out a slow sigh.

“That was two steps to my left.” He tells him and he can barely make out the amusement in Clint’s tone.

 _“Oh it was, sorry. My bad.”_ There’s a pause. _“It’s two steps to your right, although I guess now it’s four.”_ Tony just braces himself as he walks along the path blind, guided by Clint who conveniently messes up several more times in his directions to the billionaire. Tony figures that he’ll make it to the end eventually, and the whole thing feels like a strange metaphor for his life since the other Avengers came into it.

Nothing but lies and pain for Tony while they laugh at him. Sitting above it all and laying the blame for their actions at Tony’s feet.

He hits the wall again and bites down a startled cry of pain. He refuses to let Barton have the pleasure of hearing it.

Barton snickers anyways.

+++

“Can’t you put in a complaint or something?” Pepper asks and Tony runs a hand through his hair.

“The complaints go to T’Challa, who is so far up Rogers’ ass I’m legitimately concerned.” Tony tells her. “And past that they go to Ross who is a bleeding Captain America fan. He has pictures of him in the pajamas. Apparently he owned several sets.” Tony looks at her. “Did you know the originals are collector’s items now? I didn’t, not until Ross told me. The other Council members could help out, they don’t seem completely crazy but it’s impossible to actually reach them through ‘proper’ channels.”

“There has to be something.”

“I could quit.” Tony says. “That’s honestly the only option other than grinning and just dealing with it. If I quit then that leaves Peter completely under their thumb. If I quit that means that Vision is alone with no backup against the Witch when she comes a-callin’.” Tony shakes his head. “No, I’m…holding out hope.”

“For what? That they kill you with one of their ‘let’s make Tony suffer because we feel like it’ ploys?”

“No. That something I’m able to do or the image I’m able to maintain of the team gets new faces in. That one day, Rogers and his team will be forgotten and the Avengers will be the next generation.” Tony replies. “I’m holding out hope that someday the world forgets us.”

“They’re never going to forget you Tony.”

“I’m willing to be forgotten Pep, if it means everything turns out alright? I’m more than willing to be forgotten.” Tony tells her with a tired smile.

+++

“Alright, everyone on me. We’re going to make it through this time.” Steve says as he adjusts his grip on the Wakandan shield. “Tony, stay behind me.”

“Why can’t I be in the armor for this?” Tony asks and he’s not really expecting a response.

“Because you tend to go off on your own and rely on yourself when you are.” Steve tells him. “That defeats the purpose of this test. You have to depend on us to get you through this.”

“Fun.” Tony says and it’s clear he means anything but that. “Thirty five.” Tony mutters to himself and Steve glances at him as the simulation starts.

“What was that?”

“A bet with myself.” Tony says and he inwardly laughs even as he’s clipped by a stray attack on his shoulder and he goes down several seconds later. “Twenty seven.” Tony huffs as he pushes himself up. “Wow. I overshot.”

He ends up overshooting a lot during the rest of the session.

+++

“Mr. Stark.” T’Challa says when they’re in their one on one and Tony just looks at him with a ‘yes Councilmember?’ look. “Is there nothing you might offer that might potentially fix this divide?”

“I don’t know.” Tony tells him. “What have they offered and I’ll see what might be done?”

“The others have discussed their potential short comings.” T’Challa says and Tony sighs. A non-answer, great. “I am here to talk about you.”

“I don’t see what else I can do. You have the numbers in front of you. I do my job, they don’t. Why are you coming to me to try and figure out how to get them to do their parts? I don’t see how I have any control over that.”

“I am concerned that this behavior continues because of the behavior that you exhibit off of the field.”

“Are you laying the blame on me for their inability to do their jobs?” Tony asks with an arched eyebrow and T’Challa shakes his head.

“Not at all.” He replies. “It’s just that the Council and I believe that a little more effort on your part could be beneficial in the long run.”

“I don’t see what more I can do.” Tony tells him. “I’m professional, polite and I do my job regardless of anything else. To me it feels like I’m square.”

“I’d like to see more effort on your part to foster a friendly, open environment with the other Avengers. Perhaps if they did not feel like there was a barrier between you and them they would be able to help you get past this issue you are all having.” T’Challa says as if he hasn’t even heard a word Tony has said.

“Let me get this straight, you’re telling me that if _I_ put in the effort, _they_ might feel like I’m worth protecting on the field?” Tony clarifies. “That sounds like a dangerous precedence.”

“Nothing else seems to be working.”

“Maybe perhaps it’s because I’m the one doing all the work.” Tony tells him. “Maybe it’s time to flip that around for a change.”

“We cannot control our friends, we can only control ourselves.” T’Challa tells him and Tony barely holds in his snort.

“No, we cannot control our friends. But we do get to pick them, and I can tell you that friendship isn’t something that the Avengers have right now.”

“And on whose side is that falling through on?”

“It’s not a requirement of the Avengers Initiative. Do you know what is? Doing your job regardless of how you feel about the other person.” Tony fires back and T’Challa nods and writes something down.

“As it is, we would still like to move forward with this current action plan.”

“Of course you would.”

+++

“When I snap and become a super villain Rhodey, I want you to write down my story. And make sure that this bullshit is front and center.” Tony snaps as he crumples up the holographic email and tosses it into the trash. “I want the world to know that I wasn’t just pushed, I was Sparta Kicked off the edge.”

 _“God, what are they doing this time?”_ Rhodey asks over the video call and Tony shakes his head.

“Mandatory ‘team building’ nights. Movie nights in particular.” Tony shakes his head. “I’m going to snap. They’re playing a dangerous game.”

 _“They don’t care.”_ Rhodey tells him and Tony groans.

“God, tell me something I don’t know.”

_“The guy who created Frisbees had himself cremated and made into a Frisbee when he died.”_

“What? Seriously?”

_“Yup. There, bam! Something you didn’t know.”_

“I’ll give, I didn’t know that. I’m a little concerned that you _did_ , but I certainly didn’t.”

_“I read it somewhere…Just…be careful okay? There comes a point Tony where it’s not worth this.”_

“This is for the future Rhodey.” Tony tells him. “Anything is worth that.”

+++

“…You want me to sit between Clint and _Barnes_.” Tony barely manages not to hiss out. “Sure, fine. Why don’t we just let Wanda sit behind me and she can braid my hair. I’m sure I’ll feel so much better about that.”

“Tony. You said you would try.” Steve reprimands him gently and Tony shakes his head.

“No I didn’t. I said I was available for this ‘mandatory’ bullshit.” Tony tells him. “And I’m telling you right now, I’m not sitting there.”

“It’s the only seat left Stark.” Clint says with a grin as he pats it with a ‘come on over, I don’t bite much’ grin. “Unless you want to sit on the floor?”

“Guess the floor it is then.” Tony says as he goes over and plops himself against the furthest edge of the couch and everyone sighs and rolls their eyes like Tony’s being this difficult little toddler.

He spends the whole movie pretending that he doesn’t feel the sensation of spiders or something similar climbing up his arms and his neck and all over his body. He has no doubts that if he were to look he’d see something, probably a red one since Wanda was never particularly good at choosing another color with her ‘hex’s’ and he figures it’s only an hour and a half.

He sits through the entire thing with the sensation of a hundred bugs biting into his skin after Wanda clearly gets bored of him not responding to the original sensation and he makes sure to have no reaction.

He hopes she chokes and dies on popcorn through it all, but he doesn’t give her the satisfaction of one flinch.

+++

“My name is Doctor Stephen Strange.” Doctor Strange says when he approaches them at the Compound. He’s just stepped through a portal and into their conference room. “And I want to talk about possibly joining the Avengers.”

Tony can’t help the fact that he might be fighting back tears with the sheer _hope_ that rushes through him.

Please. Please let it be over. Please let the promised day finally come.

+++

“We have a new addition to our roster.” T’Challa says as he stands aside to reveal a woman with a short blonde pixie cut. “This is Major Carol Danvers, she would like to be called Captain Marvel.”

+++

“So you’ve finally decided to join us?” Tony asks with a smile as he holds out his hand and Hope smiles back as she takes it.

“Call me Wasp.” She says and Tony chuckles.

“That sounds so much cooler than ‘Ant-Man’.” He offers her and her smile turns into an amused grin.

“Oh, I know.”

“Welcome to the Avengers, Wasp.”

“Happy to be here, Iron Man.”

+++

“The team’s too big.” Tony tells the Council as calmly as he can. “It makes perfect sense to break it into two separate groups.”

“And you’ll be leading one of these groups we assume?” T’Challa asks and Tony tilts his head.

“If you’re looking for a senior member to step in until the public is willing to accept a new face as the leader, then I am willing to step in. Outside of that, I actually think that Colonel Rhodes or Major Danvers would be excellent choices. Rhodes especially as he has the history with the Avengers even if he has not previously joined the official roster.”

“And who would be on this separate team?” T’Challa asks.

“The new members mostly. Dr. Strange, Captain Marvel, Wasp and Ant-Man, Vision, Spider-Man, myself and Colonel Rhodes.”

“We cannot in good conscience put both you and Colonel Rhodes on the same team. It leaves the other team short of a powerful ally.”

“Then I will speak to Colonel Rhodes and see if he is willing to stay on the team under Rogers.” Tony says.

“It would be better if Iron Man remained on the original team lineup.” T’Challa tells him and Tony shakes his head.

“No.”

“No?”

“I’ve been exceedingly lenient and patient, but I will not allow it anymore. The ‘original team’ doesn’t work with me on it. I will no longer place myself under the stress of it and in jeopardy anymore because of it.” Tony looks at them. “If the Council wishes for Iron Man to remain on the team in any capacity, they will assign me to the new team with _none_ of the previous members on it.”

“Are you offering us an ultimatum Mr. Stark?” T’Challa asks and Tony nods.

“I guess I am.”

“And if we decide not to do that?”

“I will have my resignation filed within the hour. I do also intend to inform you that I will also be more than forthcoming with any local media outlet that asks me why I have chosen to remove myself from the Avengers at this time. I will not seek them out, but I will not remain closed lipped about it if asked.” They all look at each other before he sees them nodding back and forth.

“Very well Mr. Stark. We will consider it.”

“See to it that you do.”

+++

“You’re leaving the Avengers?” Steve confronts him in the hall and Tony shakes his head a little at how he sees T’Challa exit the room that this group has just come storming out of. Of course that bastard shared it. Whatever and a half.

“No I’m not. There’s a new team being formed and I’m on it.”

“You just wanted to force the Council to make you leader.” Clint accuses and Tony shrugs.

“Even if I did or didn’t, it isn’t your call and the call’s been made. Good luck, try not to fuck up too bad now that I’m not here to be your scapegoat anymore.” Tony tells them before throwing them a peace sign and walking off.

It feels like a triumph when he steps outside and takes in a giant breath, free of the shackles that were starting to strangle him.

It feels like victory.

+++

“Are we even sure that Stark can be trusted to lead a team?” Clint asks and Carol gives him a look like he’s a moron.

“He’s run a multi-billion dollar corporation with dozens of subsidiaries for over a decade. I think he’s got a little six man team handled.” She tells him and Tony doesn’t fight the smile.

“Not to mention, our numbers are surpassing expectations.” Vision says, crossing his arms. “We are doing quite well under Mr. Stark’s command, regardless of how you feel personally about it.”

“We shouldn’t be fighting.” Steve says, trying to mediate like he’s some neutral party or the one in the right. “We should be working together.”

“We are, separately.” Tony tells him. “You do your job and we’ll do ours.”

“Tony, using them for your grudge against us isn’t professional and it isn’t fair to them.” Steve says and it’s only years of experience in front of cameras that keeps him from rolling his eyes so hard that they pop out of his head.

“If the Council or any member of my team has an issue with my leadership, I welcome them to discuss it with me and we’ll seek out a solution. Those _outside_ of the team can keep their opinions to themselves.”

+++

“Do you think I’m being a little petty Pep?” Tony asks as he looks at the new image mock ups. “I mean, be honest?”

“Are you kidding me? They should saint you for all the bullshit you’ve put up with.”

“There’s already a Saint Anthony.” Tony informs her and she shrugs.

“I’m sure there isn’t a Saint Iron Man.” She says and Tony grins.

“Well you’ve got me there.” He says and they both chuckle before they look at the images of Tony’s new team. “T’Challa may have more money and the political clout over the Council, but I’ve got more clout in the public sector.” Tony says as he puts the one he’s holding down and reaches for a new one. “Once Pep, I thought that it was my fate to fade away into obscurity with them. Now I know that isn’t true.”

“Oh?”

“No. Now I’m realizing that I get to leave them behind and help _make_ the world forget them.” Tony grins. “There’s no better ending to a story than to think that something terrible you were always going to be defined by ends up getting rewritten and rebranded into something so much better.” He picks an image. “This one. I like this one.” Pepper leans over his shoulder and smiles.

“I like it too.” She says with a smile as Tony puts it forward to start circulating. She picks up a champagne flute and holds out one for him and they toast.

“To the Avengers.” Pepper says and Tony smiles as he looks at the new image of his team.

“To the Avengers.”

+++

“You’re pushing for a vote of no confidence in my role on the Council?” T’Challa asks, sounding surprised and Tony and the others nod.

“Before, I needed more Avengers to recognize an issue and act upon it. As it stands, there are now several members who are unhappy about how the Avengers are being run under the current leadership.” Tony tells him.

“I will of course contact the Council and let them know.” T’Challa says, irritation clear in his voice and Tony nods.

“Sounds good. Thank you for your help with this matter.” Tony says and Rogers looks at him with a sad look.

“You’re going to go after T’Challa now Tony? When does it end?” Rogers asks and Tony goes to walk by him and he pauses. He considers saying something but he opts against it.

Rogers never deserved his time or his consideration.

He never once gave it to Tony.

+++

They throw a small party when the Council is reorganized. New faces coming in with less of the bias present as experienced in previous incarnations. Tony may or may not have cheered when T’Challa was stripped of his authority over the Avengers themselves.

Tony smiles at his team as he toasts them before he heads out onto the balcony and gives a small toast to the skyline.

“Who are you toasting?” Stephen asks as he comes out behind him, the rest of them following and Tony smiles.

“The future.” He says. “I’m toasting to the future.” There’s a pause before the others line up against the railing alongside him.

“To the future!” They cry out with him and Tony smiles.

It was all worth it in the end.

It was worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Please no comments of a negative/critiquing/argumentative nature. Thank you.


End file.
